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President Message
The Prime Minister’s Independence Day address from the Red Fort has set out an ambitious vision of a Viksit and Aatmanirbhar Bharat, with manufacturing, technology and global competitiveness at its core. His emphasis on cost, quality and scale is particularly relevant for India’s MSMEs. The announcement of 7–8 new semiconductor production facilities in the next 1–2 years, alongside the rapid expansion of electronics, defence, railways, critical minerals, nuclear energy and other strategic sectors, presents an important opportunity for our small and medium enterprises. These investments will create large ecosystems of suppliers in precision engineering, components, electronics, tooling, testing, maintenance, logistics and specialised services. The opportunity before us is therefore to move “from MSME support to MSME integration”—enabling our enterprises to become competitive suppliers to large Indian and global companies. This will require greater focus on technology, quality certification, skills, capital and market linkages. The Prime Minister’s call for AI skilling of one crore youth also offers an opportunity to accelerate AI adoption among MSMEs, improving productivity in areas such as marketing, inventory, accounting, customer service and production. FISME has already stitched a joint programme with Google and Qualcomm to train MSMEs on AI which is being rolled out later this month. We believe that India’s next manufacturing leap cannot be achieved without its MSMEs becoming an integral part of emerging domestic and global value chains. We will work with Government, industry and technology partners to help turn this opportunity into a new phase of MSME competitiveness, scale and globalisation.
The 12th SAMWAD Dialogue of Friends of MSMEs in Parliament, with FISME as Secretariat, brought together 12 Parliamentarians to discuss critical MSME issues. The dialogue reaffirmed support for the MSMED Amendment Bill 2026 to address delayed payments, strengthen dispute resolution and improve liquidity. Parliamentarians also endorsed FISME's proposal for a national study on barriers to formalisation of informal enterprises, with a dedicated committee constituted to guide the study. The participants included Hon'ble Shri Shankar Lalwani, Chairman and Member of Parliament, Indore; Shri Rajendra Agrawal, Convenor and former Member of Parliament, Meerut; Shri Jagdambika Pal, Member of Parliament, Domariyaganj; Shri Shashank Mani, Member of Parliament, Deoria; Shri Sujeet Kumar, Member of Rajya Sabha, Odisha; Shri Atul Garg, Member of Parliament, Ghaziabad; Shri Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, Member of Parliament, Kaziranga; Shri Devendra Singh Bhole, Member of Parliament, Akbarpur; Shri Dharambir Singh, Member of Parliament, Bhiwani-Mahendragarh; Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal, Member of Parliament, Paschim Champaran; and Shri Naresh Bansal, Member of Rajya Sabha, Uttarakhand.
Most people assume successful businesses start with a detailed plan or a big idea. In my case, both companies I founded began with little more than a willingness to act.
Years spent helping companies grow through strategy, content and customer acquisition taught me a lot, but eventually I hit a ceiling. My first business had run its course. The real value was in what it revealed: bigger opportunities waiting beyond my current work. So I sold my company and started over.
On the occasion of the 80th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi used his Red Fort address to lay out a seven-point "Sapta Dhara" (seven streams) roadmap to turn India into a developed nation by 2047. This roadmap links energy security, advanced manufacturing and self-reliance in chips, critical minerals and defence to the country's next growth leap. "A nation becomes great and achieves its goals when it moves forward driven by its dreams, its resolve, and its inherent strength. Small dreams will no longer suffice. ..
Aggregate revenues of 838 listed Indian companies grew 22 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in the first quarter of FY27, accelerating from 13 per cent growth in the March quarter, according to a review by rating agency ICRA. The growth was supported by higher commodity and bullion prices, resilient consumption and continued demand in the automobile sector following GST rate cuts implemented last year. However, profitability remained under pressure, mainly due to weakness in the oil-refining sector.
China will continue imposing anti-dumping duties on imports of single-mode optical fibre from India for another five years, its Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday. The extension follows a sunset review initiated a year ago, which concluded that ending the measures could result in the continuation or recurrence of dumping and cause further harm to China's domestic optical fibre industry, Reuters reported. The anti-dumping duty rates will remain unchanged and range from 7.4 per cent to 30.6 per cent, depending on the Indian exporter.
India’s electronics exports surged more than 11-fold to Rs 4.24 lakh crore in FY2025-26 from around Rs 38,000 crore in FY2014-15, according to data shared by the government.
Electronics has emerged as the country’s third-largest export category, with exports reaching USD 47.96 billion in FY2025.Electronics has emerged as the country’s third-largest export category, with exports reaching USD 47.96 billion in FY2025. The growth has been supported by initiatives such as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS), India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) and Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC 2.0), ANI reported, citing a government release.
Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has approved a total allocation of Rs 605.71 crore for Rajasthan and Telangana under the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (PM-RKVY) and Krishonnati Yojana (KY).The approvals were issued during a virtual meeting with Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Kirori Lal Meena and Telangana Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao. Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Secretary Atish Chandra and senior officials from the Centre and both States also participated.
Parliament has passed the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, which seeks to restrict States from levying additional taxes on mineral rights and mineral-bearing lands. The Rajya Sabha passed the Bill on Thursday, August 13, a day after its approval by the Lok Sabha on August 12 With both Houses approving the legislation, the Bill will become law after receiving the President’s assent, according to the PTI.
Members of the BRICS grouping are discussing possible linkages between their fast payment systems and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to reduce the cost of cross-border payments, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Tuesday. Speaking at an event in Mumbai, Malhotra said, “Cross-border payments is an area of interest for all of us, including the BRICS, because we feel there is a lot of scope for reducing cost,” Reuters reported.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has removed the requirement for exporters to submit physical duty payment challans while applying for Export Obligation Discharge Certificates (EODCs) under the Advance Authorisation (AA) and Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) schemes. For voluntary duty payments made on or after August 1, 2026, payment details received from Customs through ICEGATE will be electronically integrated with the DGFT system and mapped to the relevant authorisation.
The West Bengal government plans to announce a new policy for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector within a month, state MSME and Textiles Minister Dipak Barman said on Wednesday. Barman made the announcement while virtually inaugurating the West Bengal MSME Pavilion at the Bharatiya Vyapar Mahotsav 2026 in New Delhi.“We plan to give some incentives to the MSME units. We will soon prepare an incentive policy also,” Barman said, adding that the new policy would be prepared within a month.
Madhya Pradesh has identified Indore, Bhopal, Ujjain, Gwalior and Narmadapuram for development as export hubs as part of efforts to expand the state’s export base and increase participation of smaller businesses in overseas markets.The initiative is part of a Centre-led programme to develop around 500 districts across the country as export hubs, with a focus on reducing the concentration of exports among a limited number of districts.
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Monday officially unveiled the Progressive MSME and Export Promotion Policy, 2026, aimed at attracting Rs 55,000 crore in investments and generating five lakh jobs over the next five years. The policy was launched in the presence of Haryana Industries Minister Rao Narbir Singh, industry stakeholders and senior government officials.
The announcement comes ahead of Haryana completing 60 years of statehood in November, with the government highlighting 60 major initiatives under its development agenda.
Uttar Pradesh has received investment commitments exceeding Rs 45,000 crore from eight companies across semiconductor, electronics, renewable energy and advanced manufacturing sectors, with the projects expected to generate more than 25,000 direct jobs. The investments are largely concentrated in Gautam Buddha Nagar and involve HCL-Foxconn, Avaada Electro, Amber Enterprises, SAEL Solar, Oriana Power, CESC Green Power, Ascent Circuits and IB Solar, reported Financial Express.
India has exported gasoline to Russia for the first time, with a shipment of around 350,000 barrels arriving in Moscow on August 5, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler. The tanker carrying the fuel departed from Vadinar port in Gujarat in June. At least two more shipments, each carrying around 325,000 barrels of gasoline, are expected to reach Russia by the end of August, according to the data. Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said in July that Russian buyers may have purchased Indian-origin fuel through traders, while ruling out any direct purchases by Indian companies, reported Business Standard.
The Fourth Session of the India-Namibia Joint Trade Committee (JTC) was held in New Delhi on August 10-11, 2026, with both sides reviewing bilateral trade, investment and cooperation in key sectors. The Indian delegation was led by Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, Amit Kumar, while the Namibian delegation was headed by Ndiitah Nghipondoka-Robiati, Executive Director, Ministry of International Relations and Trade, Government of Namibia. The Agreed Minutes were signed on August 11.
Among the proposed amendments to the MSMED Act, which reform do you believe will benefit MSMEs the most?
According to the FISME factor, 100% of MSMEs believe that, among the proposed amendments to the MSMED Act, reform of the IBC/Land Revenue recovery mechanism would benefit MSMEs the most.
A product manager from a business-critical team resigns, creating an urgent vacancy. The HR team responds immediately by updating the job description, posting the opening, and beginning an external search. But what if the right candidate is already part of the organisation?
Finance is confronting a fundamental reset. The forces reshaping the agenda are not cyclical disruptions that need to be managed, but structural shifts that are redefining how value is created, protected and sustained. Volatility has become a permanent feature of the business environment; capital is increasingly constrained, and scrutiny from the Board, investors and regulators has intensified. At the same time, strategic decisions must be made faster, with greater precision and far less tolerance for error.
Why Every MSME in India Must Invest in Digital Marketing Today
Let’s be honest. Many MSME owners still believe that word-of-mouth, local newspaper ads, and “good products sell themselves” are enough. A decade ago, that might have been true. But in 2026, this mindset is a fast track to business decline. Consider this: Over 80% of buying decisions now start with an online search. When a potential customer needs a service or product, they don’t ask their neighbors anymore—they ask Google. If your business doesn’t show up, you simply don’t exist for that customer.
Paper Manufacturers Seeks Immediate Anti-Dumping Duty On Indonesian Paperboard Imports
The Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) has urged the government to immediately impose anti-dumping duty on imports of Virgin Multi-Layer Paperboard from Indonesia, alleging that low-priced shipments have caused losses of around Rs 242 crore to domestic manufacturers in FY2024-25. The association said the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has completed its investigation and recommended anti-dumping duty on the imports.
Altmin is building India's first factory to manufacture the cathodes inside lithium batteries
Alithium-ion cell is mostly cathode. The material accounts for a large share of what the cell costs; it determines how much energy the battery holds and how long it lasts, and India makes almost none of it. Cell assembly plants have been announced across the country; the powder that goes into them arrives from abroad. Lithium iron phosphate, known as LFP, is the chemistry that has taken over the volume end of the market. It holds less energy than the nickel-based alternatives, but it is cheaper, safer and longer-lived, which suits electric two-wheelers, buses and grid storage, the segments where India's demand actually sits.
UrjanovaC captures carbon dioxide from factory chimneys and turns it into something commercial
Carbon capture has a commercial problem more than a technical one. Pulling carbon dioxide out of a factory's exhaust can be done. However, paying for it is harder, because the captured gas has to be compressed, transported and buried, and none of those steps produces anything anyone wants to buy. For an industrial plant, it is pure cost. The alternative is to turn the carbon dioxide into a product. Mineralisation does that: the gas is reacted with elements that are cheap and abundant to form solid carbonates, the family of materials that includes limestone, which have industrial uses and can be sold.
The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), has released the All India Consumer Price Index (CPI) with base year 2024 for July, 2026.
FISME regularly receives monthly reports on the economies of various countries from their missions in India. These reports provide information on key economic parameters, trade related information and all news relevant for importers and exporters. In this edition you can take a look at reports on:
Write your comments on the FISME Factor. Share your views and suggestions on MSME issues. Win prize! The best mail will get a special book every fortnight.
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The Prime Minister’s Independence Day address from the Red Fort has set out an ambitious vision of a Viksit and Aatmanirbhar Bharat, with manufacturing, technology and global competitiveness at its core. His emphasis on cost, quality and scale is particularly relevant for India’s MSMEs. The announcement of 7–8 new semiconductor production facilities in the next 1–2 years, alongside the rapid expansion of electronics, defence, railways, critical minerals, nuclear energy and other strategic sectors, presents an important opportunity for our small and medium enterprises. These investments will create large ecosystems of suppliers in precision engineering, components, electronics, tooling, testing, maintenance, logistics and specialised services. The opportunity before us is therefore to move “from MSME support to MSME integration”—enabling our enterprises to become competitive suppliers to large Indian and global companies. This will require greater focus on technology, quality certification, skills, capital and market linkages. The Prime Minister’s call for AI skilling of one crore youth also offers an opportunity to accelerate AI adoption among MSMEs, improving productivity in areas such as marketing, inventory, accounting, customer service and production. FISME has already stitched a joint programme with Google and Qualcomm to train MSMEs on AI which is being rolled out later this month. We believe that India’s next manufacturing leap cannot be achieved without its MSMEs becoming an integral part of emerging domestic and global value chains. We will work with Government, industry and technology partners to help turn this opportunity into a new phase of MSME competitiveness, scale and globalisation.
The 12th SAMWAD Dialogue of Friends of MSMEs in Parliament, with FISME as Secretariat, brought together 12 Parliamentarians to discuss critical MSME issues. The dialogue reaffirmed support for the MSMED Amendment Bill 2026 to address delayed payments, strengthen dispute resolution and improve liquidity. Parliamentarians also endorsed FISME's proposal for a national study on barriers to formalisation of informal enterprises, with a dedicated committee constituted to guide the study. The participants included Hon'ble Shri Shankar Lalwani, Chairman and Member of Parliament, Indore; Shri Rajendra Agrawal, Convenor and former Member of Parliament, Meerut; Shri Jagdambika Pal, Member of Parliament, Domariyaganj; Shri Shashank Mani, Member of Parliament, Deoria; Shri Sujeet Kumar, Member of Rajya Sabha, Odisha; Shri Atul Garg, Member of Parliament, Ghaziabad; Shri Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, Member of Parliament, Kaziranga; Shri Devendra Singh Bhole, Member of Parliament, Akbarpur; Shri Dharambir Singh, Member of Parliament, Bhiwani-Mahendragarh; Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal, Member of Parliament, Paschim Champaran; and Shri Naresh Bansal, Member of Rajya Sabha, Uttarakhand.
Most people assume successful businesses start with a detailed plan or a big idea. In my case, both companies I founded began with little more than a willingness to act.
Years spent helping companies grow through strategy, content and customer acquisition taught me a lot, but eventually I hit a ceiling. My first business had run its course. The real value was in what it revealed: bigger opportunities waiting beyond my current work. So I sold my company and started over.
Aggregate revenues of 838 listed Indian companies grew 22 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in the first quarter of FY27, accelerating from 13 per cent growth in the March quarter, according to a review by rating agency ICRA. The growth was supported by higher commodity and bullion prices, resilient consumption and continued demand in the automobile sector following GST rate cuts implemented last year. However, profitability remained under pressure, mainly due to weakness in the oil-refining sector.
China will continue imposing anti-dumping duties on imports of single-mode optical fibre from India for another five years, its Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday. The extension follows a sunset review initiated a year ago, which concluded that ending the measures could result in the continuation or recurrence of dumping and cause further harm to China's domestic optical fibre industry, Reuters reported. The anti-dumping duty rates will remain unchanged and range from 7.4 per cent to 30.6 per cent, depending on the Indian exporter.
India’s electronics exports surged more than 11-fold to Rs 4.24 lakh crore in FY2025-26 from around Rs 38,000 crore in FY2014-15, according to data shared by the government.
Electronics has emerged as the country’s third-largest export category, with exports reaching USD 47.96 billion in FY2025.Electronics has emerged as the country’s third-largest export category, with exports reaching USD 47.96 billion in FY2025. The growth has been supported by initiatives such as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS), India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) and Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC 2.0), ANI reported, citing a government release.
Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has approved a total allocation of Rs 605.71 crore for Rajasthan and Telangana under the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (PM-RKVY) and Krishonnati Yojana (KY).The approvals were issued during a virtual meeting with Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Kirori Lal Meena and Telangana Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao. Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Secretary Atish Chandra and senior officials from the Centre and both States also participated.
Parliament has passed the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, which seeks to restrict States from levying additional taxes on mineral rights and mineral-bearing lands. The Rajya Sabha passed the Bill on Thursday, August 13, a day after its approval by the Lok Sabha on August 12 With both Houses approving the legislation, the Bill will become law after receiving the President’s assent, according to the PTI.
Members of the BRICS grouping are discussing possible linkages between their fast payment systems and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to reduce the cost of cross-border payments, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Tuesday. Speaking at an event in Mumbai, Malhotra said, “Cross-border payments is an area of interest for all of us, including the BRICS, because we feel there is a lot of scope for reducing cost,” Reuters reported.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has removed the requirement for exporters to submit physical duty payment challans while applying for Export Obligation Discharge Certificates (EODCs) under the Advance Authorisation (AA) and Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) schemes. For voluntary duty payments made on or after August 1, 2026, payment details received from Customs through ICEGATE will be electronically integrated with the DGFT system and mapped to the relevant authorisation.
The West Bengal government plans to announce a new policy for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector within a month, state MSME and Textiles Minister Dipak Barman said on Wednesday. Barman made the announcement while virtually inaugurating the West Bengal MSME Pavilion at the Bharatiya Vyapar Mahotsav 2026 in New Delhi.“We plan to give some incentives to the MSME units. We will soon prepare an incentive policy also,” Barman said, adding that the new policy would be prepared within a month.
Madhya Pradesh has identified Indore, Bhopal, Ujjain, Gwalior and Narmadapuram for development as export hubs as part of efforts to expand the state’s export base and increase participation of smaller businesses in overseas markets.The initiative is part of a Centre-led programme to develop around 500 districts across the country as export hubs, with a focus on reducing the concentration of exports among a limited number of districts.
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Monday officially unveiled the Progressive MSME and Export Promotion Policy, 2026, aimed at attracting Rs 55,000 crore in investments and generating five lakh jobs over the next five years. The policy was launched in the presence of Haryana Industries Minister Rao Narbir Singh, industry stakeholders and senior government officials.
The announcement comes ahead of Haryana completing 60 years of statehood in November, with the government highlighting 60 major initiatives under its development agenda.
Uttar Pradesh has received investment commitments exceeding Rs 45,000 crore from eight companies across semiconductor, electronics, renewable energy and advanced manufacturing sectors, with the projects expected to generate more than 25,000 direct jobs. The investments are largely concentrated in Gautam Buddha Nagar and involve HCL-Foxconn, Avaada Electro, Amber Enterprises, SAEL Solar, Oriana Power, CESC Green Power, Ascent Circuits and IB Solar, reported Financial Express.
India has exported gasoline to Russia for the first time, with a shipment of around 350,000 barrels arriving in Moscow on August 5, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler. The tanker carrying the fuel departed from Vadinar port in Gujarat in June. At least two more shipments, each carrying around 325,000 barrels of gasoline, are expected to reach Russia by the end of August, according to the data. Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said in July that Russian buyers may have purchased Indian-origin fuel through traders, while ruling out any direct purchases by Indian companies, reported Business Standard.
The Fourth Session of the India-Namibia Joint Trade Committee (JTC) was held in New Delhi on August 10-11, 2026, with both sides reviewing bilateral trade, investment and cooperation in key sectors. The Indian delegation was led by Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, Amit Kumar, while the Namibian delegation was headed by Ndiitah Nghipondoka-Robiati, Executive Director, Ministry of International Relations and Trade, Government of Namibia. The Agreed Minutes were signed on August 11.
According to the FISME factor, 100% of MSMEs believe that, among the proposed amendments to the MSMED Act, reform of the IBC/Land Revenue recovery mechanism would benefit MSMEs the most.
A product manager from a business-critical team resigns, creating an urgent vacancy. The HR team responds immediately by updating the job description, posting the opening, and beginning an external search. But what if the right candidate is already part of the organisation?
Finance is confronting a fundamental reset. The forces reshaping the agenda are not cyclical disruptions that need to be managed, but structural shifts that are redefining how value is created, protected and sustained. Volatility has become a permanent feature of the business environment; capital is increasingly constrained, and scrutiny from the Board, investors and regulators has intensified. At the same time, strategic decisions must be made faster, with greater precision and far less tolerance for error.
Let’s be honest. Many MSME owners still believe that word-of-mouth, local newspaper ads, and “good products sell themselves” are enough. A decade ago, that might have been true. But in 2026, this mindset is a fast track to business decline. Consider this: Over 80% of buying decisions now start with an online search. When a potential customer needs a service or product, they don’t ask their neighbors anymore—they ask Google. If your business doesn’t show up, you simply don’t exist for that customer.
The Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) has urged the government to immediately impose anti-dumping duty on imports of Virgin Multi-Layer Paperboard from Indonesia, alleging that low-priced shipments have caused losses of around Rs 242 crore to domestic manufacturers in FY2024-25. The association said the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has completed its investigation and recommended anti-dumping duty on the imports.
Alithium-ion cell is mostly cathode. The material accounts for a large share of what the cell costs; it determines how much energy the battery holds and how long it lasts, and India makes almost none of it. Cell assembly plants have been announced across the country; the powder that goes into them arrives from abroad. Lithium iron phosphate, known as LFP, is the chemistry that has taken over the volume end of the market. It holds less energy than the nickel-based alternatives, but it is cheaper, safer and longer-lived, which suits electric two-wheelers, buses and grid storage, the segments where India's demand actually sits.
Carbon capture has a commercial problem more than a technical one. Pulling carbon dioxide out of a factory's exhaust can be done. However, paying for it is harder, because the captured gas has to be compressed, transported and buried, and none of those steps produces anything anyone wants to buy. For an industrial plant, it is pure cost. The alternative is to turn the carbon dioxide into a product. Mineralisation does that: the gas is reacted with elements that are cheap and abundant to form solid carbonates, the family of materials that includes limestone, which have industrial uses and can be sold.
